OHS Electric Heated Under-Blanket Review
A budget buy for saving on bills in the cooler months.
Verdict
If saving money is a must for your electric blanket, OHS Electric Heated Under-Blanket could be a great fit. Affordable to both buy and run, there are no bells and whistles here, but it does the basics well enough: it’s easy to use and maintain, simple to add to your bed and remove, and quick to heat up.
Pros
- Low price
- Three heats
- Washable
Cons
- Only one size available
- No timer
- Wires are prominent
- Can’t sleep on it while turned on
Key Features
- SizesAvailable for double sized beds.
- PowerSingle 70W control.
- HeatThree heat settings.
Introduction
For those not familiar with OHS (Online Home Shop), its cheap and cheerful products are a good go-to for thrifty buyers and those keen to trim costs where possible. Its Electric Heated Under-Blanket is no exception: affordable and durable, it’s a great way to make your bed toasty and not splash the cash. Available only as a double size, its single control is 70W, meaning that running it at maximum for an hour (based on a 30p per kWh), will cost around 2p.
Design and features
- Quick to fit elasticated straps
- Single control
- Smaller than comparable blankets
Unlike electric blankets that are designed to be on all night, ONS’s Electric Heated Under-Blanket aims to take the chill off your bed, so must be turned off before slipping between the sheets.
It offers three heats across the whole blanket, controlled by a simple slider switch. The heat selected is shown by a small illuminated number but also by bumps next to the slider, which is handy if you’re turning it off or down in low light.
There’s only one control, which detaches for cleaning: handily, the blanket is washable at 30°C.
Two elasticated straps make it easy to fit – but they’re thinner than most so can be prone to twisting.
The double size measures 135 x 120cm: covering the average dimensions of a mattress from edge to edge (4ft 6in x 6ft 3in or 135 x 190cm) but not the pillow area, yet still coming up a little short at the bottom.
Performance
- Need to remember to turn it off
- Could use more padding
- Quick to warm up
ONS’s Electric Heated Under-Blanket is easy enough to fit but the fact that it doesn’t have a timer – and isn’t suitable for use with a timer plug – means that you’ll have to remember to turn it off before getting into bed. It’s a minor quibble, but for anyone who’s previously used a blanket that can be on low all night, it could prove to be an annoyance. It does, however, heat up pretty quickly when switched to the highest setting. On average, I could feel heat start to come through in the first five minutes, with 15-20 minutes usually adequate to take the chill off the bed.
As with similarly designed blankets, the hard control connector tended to collide with my shoulder, and in general, I found it wasn’t terribly comfy to sleep on.
The wires are quite prominent, and while after a few nights, I grew used to them, I welcomed the return of my usual electric blanket.
What I did like was the control. It was easy to set, even if I couldn’t see the illuminated figures showing which heat had been selected, thanks to the raised bumps.
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Should you buy it?
You love getting into a toasty bed without worrying about initial cost and energy usage
ONS’s Electric Heated Under-Blanket is a great-value buy for staying cosy.
You and your partner like to sleep at different heats
A single control and a single temperature may not keep both occupants happy.
Final Thoughts
Considering that luxury electric blankets can cost well over £100, ONS’s Electric Heated Under-Blanket, with its pocket-friendly price, has lots of appeal. This, plus the fact that it will only cost a few pence to run before going to sleep, will make it great value for many. However, it’s an acquired taste if you prize comfort above all else. For soft padding alongside warmth, consider investing in Snuggledown Intelligent Warmth Supreme Comfort Heated Topper instead or an alternative from our guide to the best electric blankets.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every heated blanket we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main heated blanket for the review period
We record how much power the blanket will use on maximum.
We see how evenly the blanket is heated and if there are cold spots.
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FAQs
Not while it’s turned on – this model is designed to warm the bed before you get it.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
